Joey Jordison had to be carried onstage for his final Slipknot shows

Joey Jordison
(Image credit: Getty)

Joey Jordison has given more details on the illness that led to his departure from Slipknot.

Earlier this week, the drummer gave an emotional speech after being honoured at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards, where he revealed he was left unable to play drums in the months leading up to his departure from Slipknot because of transverse myelitis – a rare disease of the nervous system.

After the ceremony in London, Metal Hammer spoke with Jordison, who gave further details on his condition – and he says he was so ill at one point, he had to be carried to the stage to play live.

He says: “It was at the end of the memorial shows we did for Paul Gray. We were in Canada, at the end of my last run of shows with Slipknot, and something happened to me but I didn’t know what it was. I was super ill.

“You can be sick and still play, but this was something I’d never felt in my life before. We found out what I have is transverse myelitis – a neurological condition that hits your spinal cord, and it wiped my legs out completely. It’s like having your legs cut off, basically.

“I played those last couple of shows and it scared the living shit out of me. I didn’t know what it was.”

Jordison reports that some people thought he was “fucked up” when they saw him in pain, but he adds: “I wasn’t even drinking. Everything was straight-laced and fucking perfect. Everything was on point.

“But I had to be carried to the stage. The pain was something I’d never experienced in my life before, and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.”

Metal Hammer will have more news about Jordison in the coming days.

He recently returned to action with two new bands. Vimic, featuring members of previous outfit Scar The Martyr, release their debut album Open Your Omen later this year. Supergroup Sinsaenum will launch first record Echoes Of The Tortured on July 29.

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Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.